NASCAR “won’t and can’t get lazy” policing Next Gen car

Admittedly, attempting to reign in teams’ efforts to alter what is basically a spec car comes at a cost, particularly in unwelcome headlines and media focus on issues other than competition.

Not issuing those penalties, however, also comes at a cost – to teams, which is a big reason why the Next Gen car was developed in the first place.

“It’s essential that we keep the business model around Next Gen at an equitable level. If we don’t do that, then we’re all going to be right back to where we were with the Gen-6 model and that wasn’t a sustainable business model, as we all know,” Elton Sawyer, NASCAR’s senior vice president of competition, told Motorsport.com Saturday at Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway.

“The owners, in collaboration with them, signed off on this car and they also signed off on the deterrent model. They said from Day 1 that we needed to hold them accountable, the penalties need to be harsh, and we need to write them.”

Enforcing the rule book

So far this season, that is exactly what NASCAR has found itself doing.

While there were instances NASCAR issued penalties to teams last season for modifications to the Next Gen car in its debut year, they were relatively few.

This season, NASCAR has already issued eight penalties to teams for making unapproved modifications to single-sourced parts or making unapproved changes to areas of the car (cockpit and undercarriage).

Six of the eight penalties have been assessed to Hendrick Motorsports, one to Kaulig Racing and one most recently to Richard Childress Racing.

Five of the issues were found during at-track pre-race inspection while three were discovered after NASCAR brought cars back to its R&D Center for additional inspection following races.

While the severity of some of the penalties has been altered on appeal, in each case that has so far been appealed, the teams were found to have committed the violations.

“Unfortunately, that’s what we’re having to do right now,” Sawyer said. “We don’t enjoy writing penalties, but it is our responsibility from the league’s perspective to be good stewards and good custodians of the garage.

“We need to make sure everybody feels like when they walk in, that they have a level playing field to play on.”

That has always been true but has become even more important with the Next Gen car and its efforts to reduce teams’ costs.

The Next Gen car differs greatly in concept from previous NASCAR stock car…